Chapter 65: Halfway Champion
With the London derby between Arsenal and Chelsea coming to an end, the 19th round of the 2010-11 Premier League season has come to an end, and if you divide it by rounds, it also means that the Premier League has completed the first half of the season.
It was an important game for both teams in the title race, with Arsenal beating the Blues at home for the first time in nearly three years; Arsenal has finally gotten rid of the "demons" that plague the team, and now Arsenal is unstoppable in the league, no team is invincible to Arsenal, and no team can bring more trouble to Arsenal now.
The defeat was a real disaster for Chelsea, who had the absolute initiative in the traditional "four major civil wars", but now their performance in the strong dialogue can really be said to be a disaster. Chelsea continue to fall behind in the table and now look to be out of contention, and this season is more realistic for them to feel comfortable in the Champions League.
Chelsea have hit rock bottom, with almost five games behind Arsenal in the table and even a top-four finish to work for; Chelsea are now winless in six league games, and this may have something to do with their recent dressing room conflicts. But fortunately, their opponents in the next few games are not strong, if they can regain their prestige against Bolton Wanderers in the next round, the next Villa and Wolves, including FA Cup opponents Ipswich Town, will not cause too much trouble, they can only rely on a series of consecutive wins in a short period of time to see a chance to be strong again in the league, although they may not need to worry about Champions League qualification, but such a performance is really not the impression of the iron-blooded Chelsea.
For Arsenal. Chelsea are now a thing of the past; For Arsenal, the current return to Chelsea's form has nothing to do with them. Because Arsenal's lead in the league is huge. Because Arsenal don't need to meet Chelsea again in the league now.
In the 19 rounds, Arsenal had an absolute advantage over the other three teams of the big four, with one win and one draw dominating the game against Chelsea, beating Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford and Anfield, and even the rising Manchester City team was knocked out by Arsenal. Arsenal have achieved absolutely outstanding results against these strong teams, which is why Arsenal are so far ahead of the table in the first half of the competition.
With 16 wins and 3 draws, the current Arsenal has won 51 points; As the saying goes, haode starts equal to half the success in the last nearly two decades. The probability of a half-way winner winning the league is more than 50 percent. So the current half-way title is really important for Arsenal, and even last season Arsenal was still inextricably linked to Manchester United and Chelsea in the standings at the end of the half-season. But this season, after the half-time, the Premier League has completely entered the rhythm of Arsenal.
Arsenal's 51 points are also the best half-time title in Premier League history, and if they can maintain the pace they are in the second half, then Arsenal could win the league by a huge margin. Chelsea's record of 95 points in the Premier League in 2004/05 doesn't look like a problem for Arsenal now as they have a good chance of becoming the most league champions in history.
For the Premier League, which can basically win the league championship at around 85 points, Arsenal has now scored 51 points, and now they only need about 12 games to win the league title!
Arsenal are so powerful that people are desperate at this time. All felt the unstoppable madness of Arsenal, in a situation like this. Arsenal's league title defense is the general trend, no one can stop Arsenal, no one can stop Arsenal from breaking the league record.
Manchester United have finished second in the league after Arsenal in the half-way title without any major moves in the transfer market this summer. However, this title is obviously not enough for the Red Devils who won the Premier League title. As of the end of 19 rounds, United have won 10 games and although they have only lost one game, the 38 points from 10 wins, eight draws and one defeat are more of an irony as they are now 13 points behind the league leaders, creating the tragedy of the biggest gap between them and the league leaders in the history of the Premier League.
Manchester City, who have made a lot of money in the transfer market in recent years, dreamed of breaking the traditional BIG4 pattern, but last season's Premier League upstarts watched Tottenham Hotspur finish in the top four and took the Champions League ticket. This season, Manchester City have no regrets, and judging by the results in the first half of the season, they have done a decent job to secure third place. Among them, in the clash with the traditional BIG4, they defeated Liverpool, Chelsea, drew Manchester United, only lost to Arsenal, in fact, in the top 10 against Manchester City with five wins, three draws and two defeats, ranking second only to Arsenal, it can be seen that Manchester City is no longer afraid of the strong. However, the current Manchester City team still looks like an army piled out of sand, and it is difficult for them to form a real competitiveness with a poor home record.
With the fall of Liverpool last season, the BIG4 has shown signs of disintegration, and this season this situation has not only not eased, but has even intensified. Of course, the first to fall behind was the "Red Army", Liverpool had a difficult time from the beginning of the season, and when they reached the eighth round, their ranking actually fell to 19th place and fell into the relegation zone!
Although Liverpool is constantly making efforts, although they are now back in the top six of the standings, it is basically impossible for Liverpool to return to the top four in the standings, perhaps they need to continue to accept the fate of competing in the League Cup, for Liverpool, their fall is still continuing.
In addition, Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham, under the leadership of the old Redknapp, have generally continued last season's performance, but if they want to play in the Champions League again, they still need to work harder in the second half. Although Tottenham Hotspur is developing well, they still lack enough confidence to compete for the title, and it is most realistic for them to fight for Champions League qualification.
Arsene Wenger's approach to coaching has always been controversial and this characteristic has been instilled in the team. It is not once or twice that Arsenal has played well or not won the game, and there are obvious flaws in the squad; However, this season, Arsenal's super-strong record has put these controversies to a halt for the time being, because Arsenal have all their shortcomings, but they can now continue to win, because Arsenal are now extremely strong in the league.
Now the spiritual attributes and overall strength of this Gunners may not be comparable to the division of the two generations of Kings of Highbury, because that Arsenal is more mature, because the overall strength of that Arsenal is more powerful; At the moment, the Gunners are still lacking in stability, and the problem that should be changed has not been changed at all.
But this Arsenal has the number one star in the current game, and the current Arsenal is also quite good at taking chances. So even though this Arsenal has all its shortcomings, everyone can't deny their competitiveness, because they are constantly trying to make history.
Xiao Qing is cheering for the team's current achievements at this time, and Xiao Qing is also cheering for the team's current achievements; With such a huge advantage, it is not a problem for Arsenal to win the league title, and now Arsenal is also fully sure that they can create brilliance this season.
At the end of the half-way game, Xiao Qing was far ahead of the scorer list with 24 goals, and Berbatov scored 14 goals in the second place in the scorer list; Xiao Qing's strength can be seen, he is actually an incredible lead of ten goals, Xiao Qing completely dominates the Premier League scorer list!
Although it is more than half of the season, although there is no suspense in the battle for the league title, due to the battle for European places and the situation in the relegation zone is still unclear, it can be said that the real competition has just begun. In order to prepare enough horsepower for the future, all the giants are gearing up, and the tense winter transfer market is about to open, and for many teams, winter transfer is something they must take seriously, because it is also an opportunity for them to adjust this season.
Despite Arsenal's flamboyant style of play, Arsene Wenger's side have remained as competitive for the title as ever this season, but even Arsenal can win the league title if the team's holes are not filled; But they still have the task of playing in the Champions League, and they have to be more careful in the Champions League.
Compared with the firepower attack, the weak defense has undoubtedly dragged Arsenal back, especially the shortcomings of defending high-altitude balls have been urgently solved. With Vermaelen out injured for many days, the two summer signings Squeerage and Koscielny have been heavily used by Arsene Wenger, but the two French centre-backs have struggled to reassure the professor; In addition, the team's goalkeeper position is really a bit frightening, so even if Arsenal is very strong in the league now, they still need to make some changes to the team.
'We're doing well now and I'm happy with the way we've done during this time. As for winter transfers, the most important thing for Arsenal right now is to ensure the stability of the squad, for Arsenal we don't need too many changes now, we are strong contenders for the title at this time. Arsene Wenger seems to continue to want his own little boyhood because he prefers young players to immediate power, but Wenger can't be taken seriously because no one knows what he has in mind. (To be continued......)